To create a truly remarkable home interior, one must begin at the very foundation. Before textiles and furnishings are carefully chosen and coordinated, the space structure must be designed. This can include anything from putting up a new partition to a complete renovation. The aesthetics, functionality and even safety of a space start with the interior architecture. Take a look at some of the interior architects on homify to fully prepare yourself as you get ready for your new home venture!

What is an Interior Architect?

Interior architects are responsible for the construction, or reconstruction of a space. They must understand what is necessary to build a space with high function, and are well versed in working with light, color and textures to bring out the most optimal in space design. An interior architect will work with their client to discuss their needs and desires to bring the client vision to life. This includes working with construction personnel, inspectors, or designers. They also must be up to date and aware of building regulations to insure their designs are up to code. An interior architect is thus necessary to not only ensure the safe interior structure of a home, but to set the stage for phenomenal interior design. The interior architect sets the tone of the entire space!

What Type of Interior Architects Exist?

There are a few different types of interior architects. These include:

Residential interior architect

These professionals focus on creating beautiful private dwellings for homeowners. They work with private clients to create the space or home of their dreams that is both aesthetic and functional.

Commercial/Public interior architect

Business, and public buildings such as shopping malls, libraries, airports, train stations and more will hire this type of interior architect. This is a very important role, as for example, a well designed shopping mall will make it easier and more pleasing for people to shop.

Green interior architect

Green design has become very popular in recent years, and interior architecture has kept up with the times. A lot of residential clients look to creating a green space. Even commercial clients, such as offices, that want to create a sustainable environment. This can include solar panels and underground rooms to keep cool and reduce energy costs.

Within these types of interior architects, there will be two subdivisions- those who are hired from the beginning of a new building project and those who come on an existing building/renovation.

New structure

An interior architect is hired from conceptualization of a building, such as someone building their home from the ground, and would stay on the project until the home is complete.

Existing structure

An interior architect would be hired, for example, if someone wants to completely gut renovate their basement and turn it into a children’s playroom.

Both of these types of interior architects would start out with initial consultations with the client to determine the needs and wants of the job at hand. They then would draft design plans. These plans would include the ideas of the room set up-everything from window, wall and door placement to plumbing, electrical systems and even potential furnishings. Interior architects play a crucial role in laying the foundation for a space. Decorating a room is fun, but there is nothing to decorate without the interior architect! The interior architect also makes it easier for interior design. An interior architect who creates, for example, an industrial room with exposed brick and cement partitions sets the stage for a designer to choose furnishings and décor that flow with this theme.

How Much are Interior Architects?

The cost to hire an interior architect will vary on the type of project, for example if it is a single room gut renovation with a budget of 20,000 euro or a 1 million euro home being built from the ground up. There are four different ways an interior architect could charge for a project.

Cost plus

This is a more traditional route in which the interior architect purchases all the materials for the job and sells them to the client at an agreed mark up. This markup is how the architect is paid for their work, which is usually around a 20% markup

Fixed fees

This is very popular with larger jobs, such as a complete home gut renovation or an entire office building.. It puts a single, agreed upon price on the entire job that covers all expenses from beginning to end. A fixed price scenario would play out beginning with a consultation with the interior architect on the project and the hiring party. The cost per service would then be discussed, which would include a retainer amount, purchasing, material selections, etc. Then a budget would be set, for example, 20,000 Euro, and would include all services.

Hourly rate

This is generally used for a smaller project. In this method, the interior architect is paid on the amount of time they worked on the specific project. This could range from 50-200 Euro an hour and upwards depending on location and the designer.

Square foot basis

This is generally used for commercial projects. This involves paying the interior architect a fixed and agreed upon amount per square foot of space. Again, this rate will vary depending on location and designer.

When exactly do I need an Interior Architect?

The best time to hire an interior architect is right at the beginning of the project being worked on. If, for example, a home is being built from the ground up, then right at the beginning conceptual phase is the time to hire an interior architect. If just one room of a home, let’s say the kitchen, is being gut renovated, then again it is best to hire the interior architect right at the beginning of the project, before even any walls are torn down. This ensures optimal structure, design and functionality, and can even save money. For example, in a remodeling plan, hiring an interior architect could save money if after consultations a plan is devised that doesn’t need to tear down a particular wall when it once was thought necessary.

Why do I Really Need an Interior Architect?

One may think an interior architect is not necessary for their project. Perhaps even it could be thought one could do all this work on their own. Not true! An interior architect does more than create a pretty space. They can help with:

Local building regulations

Interior architects must be up to date with local building regulations. Examples of building regulations include

1. Structure regulations(buildings to be designed, constructed and altered so as to be structurally safe and robust, and also so as not to impair the structural stability of other building)

2. Fire safety regulations (safe way to escape the building)

3. Ventilation regulations (ventilation to provide fresh air to dilute and disperse low levels of water vapour and other pollutants).

If an untrained person doesn’t follow their local building regulations, it, will cost much money and wasted time. They know electrical, plumbing, and other non-glamorous necessities that will save money in the end.

Additionally, an interior architect is trained and equipped with ideas that might not have even been thought possible. For example, maybe the industrial look for a living room is desired and the client thought of brick walls and concrete floors. The interior architect could present the idea of concrete walls, exposed electrical and a modern partition made of copper and stone- something that the untrained individual never even imagined!

Where Can I find a Perfect Interior Architect?

Finding an interior architect is not as challenging as it may seem. Homify offers a very easy to use platform in finding an interior architect. It is easy to search on the homify website by country to find someone suitable for your needs. With their contact information as well as samples of their work displayed, it will never be hard to reach out to the interior architect that will make your design ideas come to fruition.

Examples

Still wondering how people use interior architects to bring their vision to life? Let’s break it down! For example, let’s renovate a home kitchen.

1. First, the client decides on a style. homify has a plethora of kitchen ideas one can browse for ideas. Styles are categorized in an easy to find manner. You can search by room (in this case kitchen) and by style (such as minimalist, industrial, rustic). Also, talking with an interior architect about one’s visions, needs for the space and desires will help the interior architect bring further design ideas to the table.

2. After this first consultation with the interior architect, a design strategy will be created.

3. Sketches and images typically using computer programs, will next be created and presented to the client.

4. The two parties then agree on payment. Let’s say for this kitchen project, we will pay a fixed fee of 20,000 euro for the kitchen remodeling with a timeline of 8 weeks.

5. Next the fun begins! The interior architect will work with construction crew, designers, and even other interior architects to bring the clients vision to life and to make sure everything stays within vision and budget.

Conclusion

An interior architect balances art and sciences to create a one of a kind space. They lay the foundation for projects ranging from small one-room renovations to new buildings from the ground up.